Package



May 2s, 1929. E. c. PAGEL HAL 1,714,692

PACKAGE Filed June 19, 1925 Patented May ze, ieee.,l

narran STATES- PATENT carica.

ERNEST C. PAGEL AN D SIDNEY W. TREAT, F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIG-NORS T0 CON- SOLIDATED STEEL STBAPPING COMPNY, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A. CORPORATION or iranavvaala PACKAGE.

Application led June 19, 1925. Serial No. 38,164.

@ur invention relates to a package, and more particularly to a package wh1c`h. w1ll protect a stack of metal plates or other f iat articles, and which will facilitate the ship- 5 ment and handling thereof. y

Steel'. and other metal plates, both plain and'lithographed, are used for a great va-` riety of industrial purposes, To be economically handled and shipped, they must'be l0 packaged or crated in units'each conslstlng of a plurality of superposed plates.

y Heretofore itA has been diilicult, on account of the excessive weight of the plates when assembled,.securely to package and handle l'the samel` Crates which are nailed together o'r screwed together for the carrying of such plates arey invariably of excessive bulk andare subiect to the very serious objection that the nails or screws of the crate often start out in handling andy cause serions wounds. Moreover, such crates are usually so much damaged in shipment that isis not feasible to use them a second time. Furthermore, it is impracticable to reship the crates ordinarily employed on account of their bulk and the labor involved in knocking them down and reconstructing them.

With theseconsiderations in view, our invention contemplates the provision of:

(a) A package of stac ed plates which, while very rugged and secure, is' only slightly larger than the stack of plates whic it contains.

t need be only slightly heavier than the unpacked platcs.

(c) A package'of stacked plates which is or may be formed entirely of metal.

40' (d) A package of stacked plates which magr be held together by metallic strapping.-

e) A package of stacked plates which readily may be moved edgewise over a floor or other surface.

(f) A package'of stacked plates which may be moved edgewise over a floor or other surface without dislocatin the metallic strapping by which the pac age is held together. (g) A package formed by devices which, with the exception of the box strapping, may be used repeatedly, and which when not in use occupy very little space.

(h) A packageso constructed as to afford the stack of metal plates or the like maxi- (t) A package of stacked plates which 'against play within the package.

(j) A package of metal plates or the like whichl presents surfaces of substantial area iclliapted tobear advertising matter and the Other features, objects and advantages of our invention will appear from the following detailed description, wherein reference is made to the accompanyingdrawing, in which A y Figurey 1 is a side elevational view of a completed package employing the devices of our invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view on a 75 larger scale, of one of the channel members;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional View through one edge of the completed package, showing the engagement of the plates in the channel members; Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view through one of the channel members;`and

Figure 5 is a similar view showing how these channel members nest together for shipment or storage.

The lithographed plates, sheets, or other articles which are to be"`packaged are indicated at k8 (Fig'Z'), itibeing understood that these sheets orpla'ts 8 are representative of any flat article or articles which it is de- 90 sired to bind together in package form.

Where such sheets or plates have surfacesf/ which it is desired to protect, intervenin sheets 9 of fibre, pasteboardgornany other suitable material may beplacedbiveenthems plates or articles as 'ilr'tler-fshown in 3. Such protecting sheets 9 may also be placed over the outer sides of the outermost plates 8 for protectingv the outer surfaces thereof. f j

After the plates, andwhatever vprotecti/nf-l sheets may be employed, have been stecke or brought together as shown in Fig. 3, the edges ofthe stack or group of plates are enclosed in metallic border members 11 of channel shaped section. These border mem- .bers consist of sections of channel stock cut to lengths appropriatefor the desired package and formed in the manner which we shall now describe. Each of these channel secllc.

: smooth sliding surfaces for the package and valso act as anchoring means for the strapping, which we shall presently describe.

In fitting the border channels l1 over the group of plates A8 and sheets 9, the ends of the channels may be nested one within the Aother at the corners of the package in any preferred manner; to-wit, the end channels may be slipped over the en'ds of the top and bottom channels or vice versa, or the nesting of one channel within the end of the other may be alternated at the corners. The flanges are sufficiently ductile so that this can beperformed without any difficulty, and this nesting at the corners is facilitated by the flare of the lateral flanges 1lb, which enables the flared edges of the outer channel to be started over the narrow part of the inner channel and then swung into position against the ed e of the package. The4 outward flare of t e two side flanges 11b also facilitates theplacing of the channels over the edges of the plates, these side flanges affording wedging surfaces which snugly bind the plates to ether.

The strapping prefera ly comprises two or more metal straps l2 passed around the package in each dimension, these straps being preferably located near the corners of the package. The straps are drawn taut by the use of a suitable tensioning tool, and the ends of the straps are then joined together by suitable seals 13. The stretching of the straps may be performed by a stretching tool such as that disclosed Patent No. 1,453,564 issued to Arthur'G. G. Guenther, and the ends of the straps may be joined together by Signode seals such as those described in Patent No. 1,252,680 issued to E. E. Flora. In placing the straps around the package, care is taken so that each of the straps will pass over the border channels 11 at points between the protuberances When completely assembled, the package forms a substantially rigid shipping unit affording a maximum degree of rotection to the plates. The metallic bor er members give complete protection to the edges of the plates, which generally are the most vulnerable points of such a package. In addition,

a package of this type avoids all play or end motion of the plates within the confines of the package. This will be obvious from the fact that the tension of the strapping holds the border channels in firm engagement with the edges of the plates. With the channel members arranged as shown in Fig. l, the tension of the vertical straps tends to draw the upper and lower channels into binding engagement with the upper and lower edges of the plates, and the tension of the horizontal straps tends to draw the end channels into locking engagement with the upper and lower channels. If the upper and lower channels extend slightly beyond the ends of the plates, the horizontal straps may be drawn sufficiently tight to flex or bow the intermediate portions of the end channels into firm engagement with the end edges of the plates. The outwardly flaring side flanges 11b are stressed inwardly by the tension of the straps, and the outward pressure of these side flanges tends to maintain the straps under continuous tension. By the use of these metallic border channels, the straps can be drawn up under a very heavy tension without any danger of the straps biting into the edges of the plates or other articles.

The presence of the nipples or bosses 11e onthe channels prevents any of the straps slipping sufliciently far along the channels to become disengaged therefrom. These nipples or bosses provide smooth, rounded sliding surfaces which enable the package to be slid very readily over a floor or other surface without cutting or marring the same. It will also be noted that there is an entire absence lof nails, screws or any other sharp or pointed surfaces which might inflict wounds in handling.

The name and address of the consignee, and any desired advertising matter may be printed on the side of the package l(Fig. l) on the outer fibre protecting sheet 9, or directly on the outermost plate or like article where no outer protecting-sheet is employed.

An advantage of great importance inherent in the present package over a wooden 'box or similar container, is that the channel sections are re-usable. This is made of greater value by being able to nest the several sections together in a comparatively small bundle, as shown in Fig. 5; although where channels having parallel side flanges are employed, it will be evident that these sections can also be bound together in a small bundle by placing the flange of one llO channel betweenthe flanges of another.

channel, etc. When the channels are thus' bound together in a small bundle, they can be returned to the shipper with much greater convenience and a considerable saving in freight charges. When the channel sections are thus reused, the only material of the package which is lost is the strapping. The

V age Weighs description, We

ability to nest the sections together also enables the packaging materials or a large number of packages to be stored in a comparatively small space. The present packmuch less than an average Wood-y en box; as illustrative of this, the package in one particular size, aside from the Weight of the '.contents, Weighs 71,@ pounds, as against 11% pounds for an average boxv of corresponding size.

Although in the drawing and inthe above have confined ourselves to what We consider the preferred embodiment of this invention, itv is to be understood that l'various modificationsare contemplated, and

the invention should, therefore, be limited` merely by the scope of the appended claims.

.Having now described our invention, what We consider `as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: v

1; The combination ywith a relatively fiat article, of' a plurality of channels embracing' the edges 'of said article and a strapping passed over said channels to retain them in engagement with the 4flat article, each of the channels being provided with a plurality ofl longitudinally spaced protuberanees in their web portions only, extending throughout the length thereof, for holding the strapping in place, said protuberances being spaced apart a distance` slightly greater than the width of said strapping.

2. In a shipping package'for metalsheets, y

the .combination of a stack of metal sheets with a pair of frame members comprising channeled members having diverging flanges in 'wedging engagementv with the opposite sides of said stack of sheets at the edges thereof, a pair of similar frame members having diverging anges in f'wedging engagement with the opposite sidesv of said stack at the ends of said rstmentioned frame members and binder` members arranged transversely about said stack and frame 'members to draw said frame members intor Wedging engagement with the edges of said sheets and maintain said sheets in a compact stack.-

In Witnesswhereof, We hereunto subscribe our names this 13th day of June, 1925.

v ERNEST C. PAGEL- SIDNEY W. TREAT. 

